


Liability

by Thal



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angry Dean Winchester, Apologies, Dean Winchester Cooks, Dean Winchester is a jerk but not really, F/M, Hidden Feelings, Sam Winchester Knows, Supportive Sam Winchester, argument
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:15:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23956738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thal/pseuds/Thal
Summary: Dean has been giving the Reader a hard time when she makes a mistake and she has reached her breaking point.
Relationships: Dean Winchester/Reader, Dean Winchester/You, Dean/You, Dean/reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	Liability

[Y/N] - your name  
[Y/LN] - your last name  
[E/C] - eye color  
[H/C] - hair color  
[H/L] - hair length

“You’re a liability, [Y/N]!” Dean Winchester spat out, his green eyes narrowed on the shocked [H/C] haired female hunter before him. “You’re useless out there.”  
“Dean! That’s enough!” Sam, his younger, albeit, taller brother, scolded from across the room, making his presence known before crossing the room to place a supportive hand on [Y/N] [Y/LN]’s shoulder. “You OK, [Y/N]?”  
[Y/N] shook her head, refusing to look at either one of the Winchester men in a desperate attempt to hide the tears threatening to fall from her [E/C] eyes. She bit her lip to stifle a sob and tried to pull away from the younger brother. She was a hunter, she wasn’t supposed to be weak, and if she cried in front of Dean Winchester it would be yet another failure to support his reasons for barring her from hunting with them. Unfortunately, Sam grew more concerned and caught a rogue tear rolling down her cheek.  
“Hey! Hey, [Y/N], it’s OK!” Sam soothed, pulling her into a fierce hug and scowling at his brother. “Damn it, Dean, now she’s crying. Are you happy?”  
“She’s crying?” Dean ran a hand through his hair, startling when [Y/N] gave an anguished cry and shoved herself away from Sam.  
“I hate you, you’re such an ass! Don’t worry, I won’t ever hunt with you again, Dean.” [Y/N] glared at him, swiping angrily at her tears. “No more liability to worry about.”  
She turned on her heal and stormed out of the war room toward the hall, heading toward her room and ignoring Sam and Dean calling her name. She disappeared around the corner and shortly after the sharp slam of her door echoed through the tile lined corridors.  
“Seriously, Dean? Sometimes you really are a dick to her.” Sam glared at his older brother before following [Y/N]’s retreat to her room. “Now I gotta make sure she doesn’t take off while we’re in Ohio.”

\--------

[Y/N] lay on her bed clutching a pillow to her chest, glaring at the wall. On the night stand behind her was an overturned picture frame. A knock sounded at the door but she ignored it. The knock came again with more intensity.  
“Get lost, Dean. I have nothing to say to you!”  
“Uh, it’s me, [Y/N].” Sam’s voice came through the door. “Dean’s not with me. Can…can I come in?”  
“Yeah.”  
[Y/N] heard the door open and softly click shut, then her bed dipped slightly as Sam sat on the edge. [Y/N] kept her back to him, sighing heavily.  
“[Y/N]-“ Sam stopped when shook her head. He waited several moments for her to speak.  
“I know that shifter got the drop on me, Sam. I screwed up. That’s why your brother chewed me out…why he called me useless and a liability…why he pulled me from hunting. Cause I keep screwing up.” She heard Sam sigh behind her. “I do! And he gets on me for it. Every time. You know he does. That’s why I stopped sparring with him, that’s why I started training with you. He criticizes everything I do.” [Y/N] slowly sat up and looked at Sam with watery eyes. “I get being called out for messing up, but Dean…” She shook her head. “Does he have to be so mean about it all the time?”  
Sam placed his hand on top of hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.  
“Look, [Y/N], you don’t know how Dean was trained. How we were trained growing up. Dean’s just, well, repeating what he got starting out.” Sam shook his head slowly. “Doesn’t excuse him from how he’s been treating you, but I’ve seen it before. And it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care-“  
“Seriously, Sam? He called me a liability. He called me useless. Dean Winchester doesn’t give a shit about me.” [Y/N] pushed an errant strand of [H/L], [H/C] hair behind her ear. “He’s probably relieved that I won’t be screwing up any more hunts with him. He was ri-“  
“Stop it, [Y/N]!” Sam retorted sharply. He let out a breath and rubbed his temple. “Don’t finish that sentence. Dean was wrong to say those things. You’re a damned good hunter, especially for someone who got into this life only a few years ago. And Dean knows it. And I thought you knew it, but after what happened back there, I’m not so sure. Why did you back down? You never let Dean win an argument, not without both of you stomping off and slamming a few doors, but today you backed down without saying much of anything.”  
[Y/N]’s shoulders slumped and she lowered her gaze.  
“Hey. C’mon, I’m your friend. Please talk to me,” pleaded Sam.  
“Because, this time, I messed up bad. That shifter got the drop on me, it could have killed me. I got lucky that you guys got to me so fast. I didn’t really have anything to say in my defense. I just wish your brother wasn’t such a jerk to me all the time. He gets on me for my fighting stance, how I clean the weapons, how I put away the supplies. Everything I do is wrong. I can’t be around him anymore, I get so anxious about what I’m gonna do to set him off next. Today was just too much. Like I didn’t already fell like crap before he unloaded on me.” [Y/N] shrugged. “Maybe it’s better that I keep some distance from him. Maybe he’d be in a better mood if I wasn’t always pissing him off.”  
“I thought…I thought you liked Dean. Was I wrong about you and him?” Sam’s brow furrowed.  
[Y/N] blushed and dropped her gaze. “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about! Dean can’t stand me. We fight all the time. He’s such a jerk! Wh..why would you think I would…no, I don’t have a crush on him. C’mon, it would never happen!”  
Sam smirked then quickly cleared his throat, his demeanor shifting to more compassionate. [Y/N] looked at him. Sam folded his arms around her, engulfing her in a warm hug.  
“You’re right, I don’t know what I was thinking. But you are a good hunter. Don’t let my brother get you down. Try giving each other a little space, see if that helps. But you’re not gonna leave, right? I would like to have you available to help research some lore for me on this one. You’re resourceful, and I think we could use some support on this one.”  
“I’ll stay here, at the bunker?”  
“Yeah, that’s probably best. Things with you and Dean have been tense lately, so maybe you’re better off here. Besides, you’ll have free run of the place for a few days. You can relax a bit.”  
“Dean doesn’t want me gone?”  
“What? No. Dean wouldn’t do that to you. I wouldn’t let him if he tried. But he wouldn’t, no matter how much you guys fight.” Sam gave her a sad smile. “I know it’s hard to believe, but he really does just want you safe. He cares about you. Look, just keep your phone nearby, I’ll let you know what we find, and you can help me figure this one out.” Sam dropped a chaste kiss to the crown of her head. “We’ll be back in a few days.”

\-------

SAM: Thanks for the notes. Glad you like to read up on Native American lore.  
[Y/N]: Glad to be of service. You going in tonight?  
SAM: Yeah. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we go home. 😊  
[Y/N]: Good, it’s been too quiet here. Stay alive. G’night!  
SAM: Will do. Night!

“You texting [Y/N]?” Dean asked as he reclined on one of the motel room beds. He grinned and reached for his phone on the nightstand, but his face quickly fell when he saw his own text messages to her remained unanswered. “Damn.”  
“Give her time. You aren’t exactly in good with her right now.” Sam cast Dean a knowing look. “I tried to explain you just want her safe, but she still thinks you meant those things you’ve been saying to her lately. She’s starting to believe them. You gotta lighten up, man. You’re starting to sound like Dad.” He sat on the edge of the other bed and shook his head. “Maybe try saying something nice to her once in a while.”  
“If she ever speaks to me again.” Dean scowled at his phone.  
“Even if she doesn’t.“ Sam ran a hand through his long hair. “She thinks you can’t stand her. She thought you were gonna kick her out. She thinks you’re mean because you don’t care.”  
“That’s not true!” Dean jumped up from his bed. “Damn it! Sammy, you know I didn’t want to hurt her, but she’s so damn stubborn. The only time she actually listens to me is when I chew her out. You know she wasn’t ready for this case, you even agreed with me.”  
“Yeah, I didn’t tell her that,” confessed Sam. “She was already upset enough.”  
“Seriously, dude? You left me out to dry like that?” Dean crossed his arms.  
“Nah, you did that just fine on your own, I just didn’t go down with the ship like you did.”  
“Bitch.”  
“Jerk.” Sam chuckled. His expression grew serious as he stood. “But you seriously need to do something to fix this. She actually cares about your opinion of her.”  
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll make it up to her.” Dean looked dejected. “I guess it’s safe to say I ain’t getting a post hunt pie. How long do you think she’ll give me the silent treatment?”  
“Probably a week or so. C’mon, lets grab a bite to eat be fore we do this.” Sam opened the motel door.  
“Be out in a sec.” Dean dismissed his brother with a wave of his hand as he stood and stepped toward the bathroom. As soon as Sam closed the door behind him, Dean pulled his phone out and brought up [Y/N]’s number.

DEAN: Sammy said u really came through researching the lore :thumbsup:  
DEAN: I know ur ignoring me ☹  
DEAN: Fine. Have a good nite

Dean sighed and shoved his phone in his pocket as he went to join Sam in the Impala.

\-------

[Y/N] rubbed her hand across her tired eyes. It was late, but she knew the Winchesters would return soon. So, she sat in the library trying to translate a Latin text while she waited for their return. Sam had been encouraging her to work on her Latin for a while, but she was finding the text to be frustrating and regretted her choice to practice. “Yup, I still hate Latin.”  
“[Y/N]?” Sam’s voice came from the door that led to the garage. A moment later he stepped into the room. “We’re back!”  
[Y/N] jumped up from her chair and wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him tight. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her close to his chest.  
“I missed you. It sucked not having anyone to talk to for four days!” [Y/N] admitted and she pulled out of the hug and stepped back, smiling up at Sam. “How’d it go?”  
“We ganked it!” Dean said proudly as he stepped into the room, grinning broadly and opening his arms to accept a hug.  
[Y/N] fixed Dean with an icy glare before turning back to Sam. Dean’s grin faded as he dropped his arms and shifted his gaze away from her. Sam cleared his throat, glancing between Dean and [Y/N].  
“Yeah, we got it. And that tip about the sage leaves really helped.” Sam yawned. “I’m gonna turn in. Good night.”  
He gave [Y/N] a one-armed hug before heading off to his room for the night. [Y/N] and Dean watched him disappear around the corner. Dean sighed.  
“Uh, yeah. I’m goin’ to bed, too.” [Y/N] said dismissively as she rushed from the room, refusing to give Dean a chance to say anything to her.  
Dean shook his head, slumping into a chair. He ran a hand across his face, casting a furtive glance at the door she left through, as if considering chasing after her. He exhaled heavily through his nose and rose, heading instead for the nearest bottle of whiskey. 

\-------

Dean Winchester winced and gingerly rubbed his bandaged right knee. He and Sam had been hunting a skinwalker, and he’d taken a bad fall after being thrown into tree, wrenching his knee and ankle when he got up and slipped on a rain slicked rock. He was miserable. [Y/N] still barely said anything to him, and now he was laid up in the bunker while Sam was off helping Jody and Claire dealing with a small nest of vampires. [Y/N] stayed behind with him, but kept her distance, only showing up long enough to leave his meals by his door, giving a quick knock and calling his name before taking off. Dean mostly stayed in his room watching movies, trying to keep out of her way so they could both avoid the growing awkward tension growing between them.  
Dean would have felt better if [Y/N] had yelled at him for being a dick, or at least insulted him back. Anything. But when he caught glimpses of her, before she retreated to another part of the bunker, she often looked down trodden, and jumpy like a rabbit. Occasionally she threw him a dirty look before storming out of the room, but more and more it seemed her anger was being swallowed by something else, and Dean hated it.  
So now he was in the kitchen, trying to get the ingredients together to fix some of [Y/N]’s favorite foods for dinner, in hopes that his gesture might convince her to sit down long enough for him to actually get out the apology he wanted to give her since returning from the hunt in Ohio. Which seemed like a good idea until he discovered standing and moving around the kitchen area aggravated his injuries making the whole endeavor increasingly difficult. He turned to check a pot on the stove, and the pain in his knee flared up making Dean draw a sharp breath through gritted teeth.  
“Son of a bitch!”  
“Dean? What are you doing in here?” [Y/N] stared at him from the doorway, eyes wide as she paused to take in the sight of the injured hunter massaging his knee.  
“What’s it look like, [Y/N]?” Dean snapped back instinctively, instantly regretting it as [Y/N]’s [E/C] eyes narrowed. He stood and rubbed his neck as he regarded her. Dean cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean it like that. The pain is making me grumpy. I’m making dinner…uh, for you.”  
“You’re supposed to be resting. Not cooking.” [Y/N] frowned as she moved to stand beside Dean, starting to peer into the pots and pans on the stove. “Are you making-“  
“Yeah. Trying to.” Dean shrugged.  
“You should sit down, I’ll finish it.” [Y/N] said quietly.  
“Not gonna happen, sweetheart. If I’m making you dinner, I need to be the one who makes it.” Dean smirked at her. “C’mon, my pride is at stake here. Please let me do this for you. It’s not a big deal.”  
[Y/N] regarded Dean quietly for a moment before slowly nodding. “OK, but on one condition.”  
She walked off to the table and carried one of the chairs back to Dean.  
“At least sit while you cook. Your knee is already bothering you.” She hesitated then reached out to help Dean ease into the chair. “There, that’s better. I’ll go get you something for the pain.” She turned toward the door. “Be right back.”  
Dean watched her go, rolling his eyes. “So much for the surprise.”  
“What?” [Y/N]’s voice floated down the hall. She appeared a moment later with a bottle of pain medicine. She popped the lid off the bottle and tipped two pills in the Dean’s palm. “What’d you say before?”  
“Nothing important,” chuckled Dean before popping the pills in his mouth and swallowing them down with a couple pulls from his beer. “Just grumbling because I didn’t get to surprise you.”  
“Oh, finding you in here making dinner while standing on a bum leg was definitely a surprise, Winchester,” scolded [Y/N] lightly, before a small smile bloomed on her face and she shook her head. She moved to the refrigerator to grab herself a beer. “You’re a terrible patient. Why are you trying to surprise me with dinner anyway? I would have made you something to eat. Your brother made me promise not to let you starve.“  
“Funny.” The eldest Winchester brother shook his head at her snarky comment. “I wanted to do something nice for you. I’ve got a lot to make up for lately.” Dean huffed, briefly standing to stir the contents in one of the pots. “A hell of a lot.”  
[Y/N] sighed, tucked a piece of [H/C] hair behind her ear. “Yeah, well, sometimes I maybe had it coming. I’m not the greatest hunter out there. I guess sometimes I was a liability.”  
“No! [Y/N], don’t…” Dean scowled at the contents of the pot he was stirring. “Sam was right. I really screwed things up.” He turned and limped over to [Y/N], placing his hands lightly on her shoulders. “I never really thought you were a liability. Look, I wanted to surprise you with dinner, then I was gonna apologize for being such a dick for the last several weeks, and then…uh, I don’t know, maybe we’d watch some movies or something, didn’t really think that far ahead. But maybe I should’ve lead with the apology. It’s just been hard to get time alone with you so I could.” Dean led [Y/N] to a chair at the table, urging her to sit. He quickly hobbled to the stove to turn down the heat of the burners, stirring the contents of another pot then turning to face [Y/N]. He took a deep breath before slowly exhaling. “Look, I’ve been a jerk to you. I said a lot of things I shouldn’t have. Things I didn’t really mean. I just…I was trying to watch out for you, but you’re stubborn, like me. It seemed the only times you’d listen were the ones where I was a being a dick.” Dean sat in the chair [Y/N] had brought over for him. His green eyes connected with [Y/N]’s [E/C] ones. “So…I started doing it intentionally. Even if we got into another argument, you usually ended up doing what I said. I didn’t think it was bothering you that much. I mean, you seemed like you were good, but then you stopped doing things with me, doing stuff with Sam or on your own instead. It sucked.”  
“Dean, you were always getting on my case.” [Y/N] frowned. “I was trying to keep out of your way. I mean, it sure seemed like you couldn’t stand me.”  
“Yeah, I get it.” Dean’s shoulders slumped and he lowered his gaze. “It’s the opposite, really. I hated that you stopped sparring with me, and stopped hanging out with me. I got so angry. I didn’t want to lose you, but…yeah, I lost you. So I kept being a dick out of spite, and I made a mess of everything. And I’m sorry I ruined things between us. I messed up. I’m sorry I’m such a jerk, [Y/N].”  
“Dean…” [Y/N] stood and walked over to him, dragging her chair with her. Dean watched as the female hunter sat beside him. “You’re not being a jerk now. And, maybe I missed hanging out with you, too.”  
Dean gave her a sad smile. “This is the most we’ve spoken in a while.”  
“Yeah, maybe shutting you out wasn’t the best way to handle things,” shrugged [Y/N]. “I was hurt and angry because I could never do right in your eyes. I just thought giving you space maybe was best…for both of us. But it made everything worse. I’m sorry, I should have at least said something, even if I thought it meant another argument.”  
“Nah, [Y/N], you got nothing to apologize for.” Dean put an arm around [Y/N]’s shoulders. She leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder with a heavy sigh. Dean relaxed. “You had every reason to want to distance yourself from me. But maybe now we can go back to being friends again. Or something along those lines. I’ll work on not being a jerk, and maybe you’ll hang out with me again, OK? I mean, if you feel like it.”  
“Well, we can start by making dinner together,” suggested [Y/N]. “Like you finish making dinner, and I make dessert…like, oh, I don’t know…maybe a fresh cherry pie.”  
Dean perked up, a goofy grin growing on his face. “I like that idea. I like it a lot.”  
“Well, I better get started on that pie, seeing as you got a jump start on me.” [Y/N] chuckled, heading for the pantry shelves to get the things she needed to start on a pie crust. As she grabbed the flour and sugar, she casually spoke to him over her shoulder. “Hey, Dean? What’d you mean by ‘something along those lines’? You know, when you were talking about us being friends again.”  
Dean froze and cleared his throat. He slowly turned to watch her as she set her things on the counter and looked back at him. He licked his lips and exhaled from his nose. “You, uh, picked up on that, huh?”  
“Yeah.” [Y/N] worried her lower lip, wondering if she had gotten her hopes up to high. “I was just wondering, that’s all.” She felt her face grow flushed and turned her attention back to mixing the dry ingredients into a bowl. “No big deal.”  
“Actually, it is to me.” Dean slowly walked over to her, catching one of her hands in his. “And I really hope the last few weeks didn’t ruin things.” He sighed and his jaw clenched slightly. “I’ve been trying to keep you off the more dangerous hunts to keep you safe, because…because I…I want to protect you.” The tall hunter groaned and ran a hand through his spiky hair, shaking his head slightly. “Ugh. Why is this so hard?”  
“What is?” [Y/N] stepped closer, her [E/C] eyes searching his face with a mix of hope and trepidation. “What are you trying to…do…do you feel like I do?”  
Dean stared at her for a moment, licking his lips. “What do you feel like, [Y/N]?”  
“I asked you first.” [Y/N] bit her lip, unable to take her eyes off Dean’s face.  
“Do you trust me?” Dean waited for her answer, his green eyes locking on her [E/C] eyes anxiously. “Let me try something?”  
[Y/N] nodded slowly. “Yeah, I trust you.”  
Dean gave her a small smile, cupping her cheek with one hand. He ran his thumb lightly over her cheek bone, his eyes softening as he leaned closer. He pressed his lips to hers, hesitating for only a second before deepening the kiss, his free arm encircling her waist. [Y/N] placed one hand lightly against Dean’s chest, her other hand coming to rest on the back of his neck as she pressed her lips harder to his in hopes he would understand the feelings she was too anxious to voice.  
Eventually the kiss ended, and the two hunters pulled back for air. Dean smirked at her. “Yeah. I think I feel like you do.”  
“I was afraid to say anything because….well, you know.” [Y/N] blushed at her confession. “I thought you’d think it was ridiculous. But I’ve liked you for a while now. That’s why it was so hard to take you chewing me out and the insults.”  
“Damn. I got lucky that you still want me.” Dean kissed her lightly on the forehead before returning his attention to the stove. “Look, sweetheart, I will do my damnedest to do better, but I’m always gonna want to protect you.”  
“Yeah, I get it, Dean.” [Y/N] nodded. “I need to work on somethings, too. Like knowing you might actually be right. Occasionally.” She laughed as Dean feigned a pout. “Sam’s gonna love this, he’s been trying to get me to tell you how I felt for a while. Even when I tried to deny it.”  
“You, too?” Dean barked out a laugh as he started dishing out food. “He’s been on me for a few weeks. Do we have to tell him?”  
“Yeah. He’d figure it out anyway when he got back.” [Y/N] snuck up on Dean and kissed his cheek.  
“I get the feeling we’ll be kind of obvious.” Dean caught [Y/N] in his embrace. “The way I see it, we got some lost time to make up for.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have internet again!
> 
> I was not planning to write this, it wasn't in the notebook, but the idea got in my head and wouldn't quit until I wrote it. So here's a random surprise one shot for my Dean/Reader fans. :)
> 
> More stories coming soon.


End file.
